Al Franken (Photo: Aaron Landry) and Norm Coleman (Photo: WDCpix.com)

As Al Franken and Norm Coleman ready themselves for a fourth month in electoral limbo, are they also readying to serve in the U.S. Senate (as one of them, someday, must)? Al Franken, who’s never been a U.S. senator, says he’s “ready to go on Day 1.” Six-year Senate veteran Norm Coleman, out of office one month, sounds less sure: “I’m trying to be ready.”

Both men talked to the media today after mostly staying silent since the Nov. 4 election, sometimes going into detail about their efforts to get (or stay) prepared to take (or re-take) office. Even their word choice signaled how they’re thinking: Coleman still refers to those now in the senate as “colleagues,” while Franken’s confident they’ll be “future colleagues.”

Franken told the Associated Press (AP), “I admit to being frustrated at times. But it’s a little out of my control. What is in my control is to prepare so that when I get to the Senate, I’m ready to go on Day 1.”

The AP’s Patrick Condon writes: “Franken said he gets regular briefings from Democratic members of Congress and staff. If he were in office, he said, he would support President Barack Obama’s stimulus package but would push for measures to make sure the money is spent wisely.”

Minnesota Public Radio’s Tom Crann asked Coleman, “If this contest reveals that you are the senator, are you ready to dive right into the debate on the stimulus package, for example? Where do you stand on that?” Coleman’s reply:

I’m trying to be ready. That’s one of the great challenges, Tom. And that is on a couple of levels, by the way. It’s not just the policy issues. I’m in contact with my colleagues. I had a conversation with the majority lea–, minority leader, Mitch McConnell, this week. I’ve talked to Sen. Susan Collins, involved in a lot of negotiations on the stimulus package. … I do not support the package in its present form. I’d certainly be among those working for a resolution.

But there’s another side of it, too, and that is the citizen service side. We’re going to– My staff is now going to have to go on its way. My offices are closed. I will move very, very quickly to put in place a team that can respond to the needs of Minnesotans. But that is a challenge. We’re in the unfortunate position where my office is closed, cases have been processed, people are moving on to get new jobs to take care of their families. I will move as quickly as possible, but that is challenging, have no doubt about that. And it’s something I give a lot of thought to, to be able to move as quickly as possible to be able to jump into these issues an into these citizen service cases. …

I’d love to be involved in [the stimulus] discussion more actively. I’m certainly being informed about that right now. But these are the most trying times of my over 30– economic times of my over 32 years of public service. I’d like to be part of the solution. And I have to wait for the outcome of this election contest in order to have that opportunity, there’s no question about that. Minnesota will not certify a U.S. senator until this contested case is over. …

And if he doesn’t win? “I don’t define myself by being a U.S. senator,” Coleman said. “I don’t spend my time wringing my hands.”

UPDATE: MPR also talked to Franken. Some excerpts from his comments:

Since [the recount] I’ve been very focused on getting ready to be senator. I don’t think the results of the recount are going to be reversed, and I think it’s my responsibility really to be ready to step in to be senator. … A lot of my focus has been on keeping abreast of what’s going on in the Senate. And you know, I am a little anxious — eager to get there and start work. … I do get briefings from various– it’s usually staff members of future colleagues. … I would love to be part of this conversation [about the stimulus] because there are parts of it I would like to weigh in on. …

Crann asked, “What’s the first thing you jump into, Priority 1 for Al Franken in the U.S. Senate?”

It really depends what committees I’m assigned to. … I actually asked for more assignments than I– than they could possibly give me.

So I asked for Ag. I asked for Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which is a committee that is really cradle-to-grave and has a lot of concerns of people that I– of Minnesota. Energy. Armed Services or Foreign Relations, Veterans Affairs and Indian Affairs. So I don’t know what I’m going to get. So a lot will depend on what committee I’m assigned to– what committees I’m assigned to, and where we are on the agenda. …

Crann asked Franken if people in Washington, D.C., are already treating him as a U.S. senator. Franken’s response:

Everyone that I’m talking to is treating me as a senator-elect. And appropriately so. And not as a sitting U.S. senator. I’m not a sitting U.S. senator.

I’m in a very odd position that not many people have been in. And so everyone has to sort of make that calculus in their head: What am I talking to when I’m talking to Al?

But if I talk to Dick Durbin, or  I talk to a staff member who is on top of this stimulus bill and what’s happening, they know who they’re talking to. They know what postition I’m in very well.

Minnesota’s most populous county hand-tallied at a rate far below the rest of the state: Hennepin County’s manual recount of barely more than 1 percent of ballots cast had Coleman losing seven votes and Franken gaining one.

The Minnesota Secretary of State’s office is posting daily updates of the recount’s running totals, with easily accessible statewide and county-by-county figures, as well as downloadable raw stats broken down by congressional district, state legislative district, county or individual precinct.

Note: The Star Tribune has slightly different numbers based on the secretary of state’s figures as well as on reports the Strib apparently got directly from individual counties or recount sites after 8 p.m., when the official state stats were posted online. With “about 18 percent” of ballots recounted statewide, the Strib puts the gap between Franken and Coleman at 174, with greater numbers of challenged ballots for each.